Omicron
by EchidnaHazard
Summary: A robot is created with one specific purpose--to seek and destroy the Chaotix and their leader, Knuckles.


I know that I would feel afraid, if I were capable of emotion.  
  
My heart would be pumping, my lungs tightening, but I have no heart nor lungs.  
  
Perhaps I should back up just a little and explain myself, to the best of my ability; what, and where I am.  
  
My name is Twenty Three, Division Omicron, Unit Seek And Destroy. Simply Omicron when I am being recalled or ordered. I am what a mammal might call a 'clone'.  
  
I do not have emotion to be insulted by this slur, but I can assure you that I do not consider myself a clone.  
  
My body is not living, hence my lack of organs, and of fear. I am a Metallix series robot, under my master, the Emperor Barium.  
  
Now to continue..  
  
I would be afraid if I knew fear, if I had emotion. I know neither. Obedience and loyalty to my master is all that I know.  
  
The echidna whose grip is around the base of my throat thinks that he can intimidate me in the same manner as one might a normal lackey. He is mistaken.  
  
"What's your name?!" he spits at me.  
  
I process the question calmly, and answer to the best of my ability, and do not answer.  
  
His lavender eyes burning into my own, he growls, "Talk. Where is the Emperor?"  
  
I glance away, and my optics bring back the gristly vision of my slain brothers and sisters, their wires sparkling and their lenses haunting black pools. I would feel sympathy if I could.  
  
"I do not know." I say, truthfully.  
  
"Yes, you do." He snarls, turning and heaving me into a wall. My camera jerks and then fixes from a crooked position on the floor to him pacing up to me, but still I do not fear. My duty is all that is important.  
  
He reaches down and takes my arm, yanking me back to my feet, and pushes me against the wall. I offer him no resistance.  
  
"Now, you hunk of junk. Where is the Emperor?!"  
  
"I do not know." I repeat.  
  
The echidna's friends, a mixed group of species, stare uneasily at me.  
  
"That makes you expendable." Says my tormentor, tossing me to the armadillo, "Mighty, destroy it."  
  
"Right." Mighty replies.  
  
My eyes glow. So much for having mercy on prisoners of war. I was waiting for my chance, anyway. Using my deceiving strength and my advantage of surprise, I rip myself out of his arms and turn on the others.  
  
A controlled glow of energy forms in my intake engine, and I aim it at the armadillo. The creature, too stunned to do anything, is hit in the chest with the attack, and crumples back against the floor, unquestionably deceased.  
  
The bee darts up to me, I duck out of its way and then bring it down with one well-aimed, close-fisted punch, breaking its spine and either killing or paralyzing it.  
  
"Pick on someone your own size!" calls the chameleon.  
  
"Like yourself?" I wonder apathetically, dropping to the ground. The chameleon flickers out of sight, temporarily fooling my sensors, until I can think to turn on my heat vision, and he registers as a faint cold blue glow.  
  
He sneaks up behind me, leaps out and grabs my arms, "Hit him now, Vec!" The crocodile lunges, and I catch him smartly with a kick to the jaw. He staggers back, clutching his face, and I finish him by breaking free of the chameleon and slamming into his stomach, then clawing the arteries in his throat. Then I resume the offensive on the chameleon, who has cloaked again, not realizing, perhaps, that I can detect him.  
  
I speed shift to his left, slash at him, and then follow that up with another punch, one that snaps his head back. Before he can retaliate, I send a bolt of pure energy into his system, and he too, collapses, dead.  
  
"Astounding." The echidna says, the edge of panic in his voice.  
  
"To answer your question." I reply obediently, "I am Twenty Three, Division Omicron, Unit Seek And Destroy. I was built specifically for the purpose of destroying the Chaotix and yourself."  
  
"You may find me a bit harder to kill." He mutters, backing up a step.  
  
I allow it, my eyes flaring in my head, the purpose of the extra light to lock onto my target.  
  
"Highly doubtful." I say after a moment, and then I move forward in a blue streak of light. He tries to dart away, and I realize he is nowhere near as fast as I am, perhaps two-thirds my speed. It is not enough to save him as I reach forward and grab the scruff of his neck, powering up another intake beam.  
  
The energy lances into him at point-blank range, nearly double enough to kill him, and I drop his body to the ground with an air of disdain, though I feel none.  
  
I look around, take in the other bodies for a few moments, and then look up to the ceiling.  
  
"Omicron Twenty Three!" a voice calls, and I turn as the hologram fades and disappears. Metallix Sigma Ninety approaches me.  
  
"That was outstanding!" he congratulates me, "The Emperor was extremely impressed at your results from this and every other holo-test. You survived longer than Lamda, Nu -and- Rho! You're definitely the robot who will destroy the Chaotix and their leader the Guardian."  
  
I take the praise in silently, nodding, and then ask, "When? When will I be able to destroy the Chaotix for real, and complete my prime directive?"  
  
"Very soon." he speaks with anticipation, "They've been spotted heading in this direction." I nod again, and I turn away, "He will summon me when the time is right."  
  
I exit the room, another Metallix among hundreds, and wonder if the real Chaotix will be as easy as the ones in the holo-test.  
  
I know that I would feel satisfaction, if I were capable of emotion. 


End file.
